Caught Between Places
One of the panels I went to at the Southern Festival of Books was titled Our Feet May Leave, But Not Our Hearts – Stories of Home and Place (I know, kinda cheesy title, but it was YA novelists so I was hooked), and the panelists were Silas House and Meg Medina. I’d heard of Silas [...]
Anchors in the Storm
Life is crazy right now. Since the school year started, I have had only one full day to actually sit at my desk and work. The rest of the time I am visiting teachers, meeting with principals, planning PDs (Professional Development) with teammates, presenting PDs to teachers, and somehow trying to fit in all my [...]
Swimming in Saltwater Memory
So we’re at the beach this week. And it’s supposed to rain all week. When we got here last night, my plan was to go out and walk on the beach at night and stargaze. Poetic, right? But it was gray and cloudy and raining. Thankfully, this morning there was a break in the rain [...]
When You Know You’ll Never Quite Be Home
Blame it on spending my childhood in two countries. Blame it on bouncing back and forth between two languages. Between two cultures. I used to feel Thai and American. But never quite fully either one. It’s like being Abnegation and Dauntless. And being neither of them. Friends have been going to Thailand and posting pictures. [...]
Talk About Motivation!
I graduated with my MFA in Creative Writing a year and a half ago. Since then, my life has not changed much. I write a little more, but not enough. Professionally, I’m still working in education. I had a stint at adjunct teaching at a local community college, but it was ESL, not Composition or [...]
And She Doesn’t Like Goodbyes
My daughter hates goodbyes. She cries when we leave birthday parties. She cried a few days ago when we left her grandparents’ house. As much as we assured her that Nanny and Pa only live an hour and a half away and we can see them any time, her tears would not cease. I have [...]
Happy Birthday, Little Bro
My brother Will would have been 29 today. For us, though, he will be forever 17. Photographs of me show wrinkles around my eyes, creases developing in my neck, the body’s signs of age and parenthood. Will, though, will always look out at me with those youthful, sparkling brown eyes, with that smooth skin, happy-yet-mischievous [...]
Believing in God After 9/11
When humans witness things that hurt, they often struggle with believing in a God who loves mankind. “If God exists, why is there suffering in the world?” Haven’t you heard that before? Theodicy, or the work of believing God is who He says He is even in the face of our pain, has plagued Christians [...]
Summer Time Blahs: A Quest for More Structure and More Peace of Mind
I think it is time for all of us to go back to school. I look back on this summer and see a lot of fun times with the fam, but also a lot of lazy days. While part of me loves laziness, part of me feels guilty about being so un-industrious. I didn’t write [...]
A Personal Liturgy, or My Life’s Music
My life does not sound like a piece of music. Well, maybe something by AC/DC, but certainly not something sweet and calming like Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring or even Norah Jones‘ Come Away With Me. This week I have had something to do or somewhere to go every single day after work. Doctors [...]
